Interview taken from the Record...
JIMMY CONSTABLE guzzled 7 bottles of wine a day when boyband 911 broke up two years ago. And the singer and dancer is still bitter about the split. He claims he was "betrayed" by the other members of the band that got to No.1 with Dr Hooks a little bit more. But Jimmy has teamed up with old pals Lee Brennan and Spike Dawburn for a comeback national tour which stops off in Scotland next month. Ater OTR revealed the groups comeback, we were invited to watch them rehearse for the tour and pose for their first picture together in 2 years. For Jimmy,29, who has a young son,Scott, it was bittersweet reunion. It was Lee and Spike who organised the split afetr the group, which was formed in Glasgow, had eight top 10 hits. Jimmy said "the original split had nothing to do with me. They wanted it and i do feel betrayed. They know and understand this". "They put me in a bad situation and for eight or nine months after 911 ended, I was depressed and abused alcohol. "I was drinking about six or seven bottles of wine a day and if it wasn't for the people around me,I'd probably have really hurt myself. "My family and friends knew i was doing it wrong, but i had to go through it to realise it myself. "They said if you want to get back, then you have to stop drinking. I saw a way forward and haven't looked back." Jimmy has been working on a debut solo album, which he will showcase on the tour. He is happy to see the fans again-especially as he feels they were cheated when the group split back in 1999. Jimmy said "I felt when we split we didn't give anything to fans to say thank you-now we can." When the promotor gav us the opportunity, I realised the demand was still there. "Its never going to be the same as it was. I don't think my friendship wioth the other two is strong enough to go back into the recording studio as a group, but feel I owe it to the fans" Jimmy readily concedes that 911 are no longer a boy band. Despite Five and Boyzone splitting, there are others such as A1 and Blue who have taken their place. He said "Blue are giving what the fansd want.We are at an age we aren't going to give the fans that. REPLACE "My music is deeper than the tunes we did-more like George Michaels most recent stuff" On the tour Jimmy will do three tracks from his tentatively titled debut album, bridges. Tellingly most of it is about loss. Another Love is about unable to replace a former partner; Everyword is about a band splitting up and finding out who your friends are and Lead To Something is about having doubts in your mind but giving yourself a kick to get going. Meanwhile Lee,27, will release his debut solo single in January. Lee who dates B*Witched singer Lindsay Armaou co-wrote Turn It Around and has already shot a video. He said: "It was very strange doing it by myself and not having the other guys around. I'm just going out there to enjoy myself. I cant't wait to do gigs by myself and see how far i can get. Lee admits he was on a downer after 911 split and sympathises with Jimmy. He said"It hit me after about 3 months, whereas with Jimmy it started straight away. "But you've got to keep fighting and look for different things. We all knew pop was never going to be around for the rest of our lives. Spike,27 has also kept busy. After 911 split he bacame and internet DJ for Bruno Brookes before setting up his own dance agency in LOndon. They've already choreographed some top five dance acts. He and Lee see each other almost every day, but rather than come up with new moves they are doing all the old stuff such as windmills and backflips. Spike, who is engaged to Robbie Williams dancer Vicky said "It was strange being back together, but we had a good time. "We had aching limbs at the start, but we want to give the fans a good memory of how we were and not do slow stuff. "Its all still up-tempo. We can't wait to come back to Scotland.
